


Fly

by Hester (hester4418)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Aliens, F/M, Original Character(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 22:09:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6677329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hester4418/pseuds/Hester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Voyager</i> discovers an unusual race of aliens. Written for VAMB's Secret Santa Exchange 2014.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [froot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/froot/gifts).



> DISCLAIMER: _Star Trek: Voyager_ and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story however belongs to me.
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was written for VAMB's Secret Santa Exchange 2014. Froot requested, "Story containing the pairing J/original character. The original character can be a lady, a man, some weird alien gender we can only imagine, a robot, a waffle iron, or just anything, really, as long as it's original. Story can be anything - PWP, fluffy, dark, tragic, or anything in-between."
> 
> Written December 2014/January 2015.

It was a quiet day in the Delta Quadrant. _Voyager_ was cruising at sublight speed through a solar system that appeared to be uninhabited, her crew scanning the different planets for possible sources of the rare minerals and other supplies that they constantly needed.

But calm and quiet never lasted long in this corner of the galaxy, so when the yellow alert sprang to life, immediate reactions from the bridge crew showed none of the strain and nervousness they might have felt in the Alpha Quadrant. Nevertheless, alert signals that started automatically were never a good thing, especially when two away teams had just been deposited on a nearby planetary body.

"What's going on?" Captain Kathryn Janeway asked, half-tuning in her seat to make eye contact with Harry Kim at the Ops console behind her.

"Looks like a meteoroid shower is headed our way," he replied after muting the alert. "I recommend that we raise shields."

A nod from the captain towards Tactical was acknowledged by Tuvok a second later. "Raising shields."

"Do any of those meteoroids pose a danger to the ship or one of the away teams?" Janeway asked next.

Kim shook his head. "There might be a bit of a fireworks display visible from the surface, but all of the pieces are small enough that they should burn up in the planet's atmosphere."

"Still, let's warn them." She raised her head. "Janeway to Chakotay."

"Chakotay here," the voice of her first officer sounded from the overhead loudspeakers.

"Commander, there's a meteoroid shower headed toward the third planet. Ensign Kim says there's no danger to the away teams, but you may be seeing some flares in the sky."

"Understood, Captain," came his crisp reply.

Janeway leaned back in her seat. "How's your progress?"

"We're right on schedule. Neelix contacted me a few minutes ago to report that his team found several varieties of edible fruit and roots."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Not leola root, I hope?"

Chakotay's answer carried a hint of amusement. "He didn't say, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

"You're not the only one. What about those ores we detected, any chance of getting at them?"

"Torres is setting up transport enhancers as we speak. We should be ready for a first attempt in about an hour."

Janeway nodded her acknowledgement even though he couldn't see it. "I want to take a scan of the second planet's rings, but we should be back in range in time for your tests."

"Understood. I'll let Neelix know about the fireworks. Maybe they will distract him from digging up more roots."

"One can hope." Janeway chuckled. "Let us know when your team is ready. Janeway out."

Silence descended once more on the bridge, only broken by the occasional beeping from a console. Janeway leaned back in her seat and regarded the image on the viewscreen. Two small planets were visible in close proximity to the system's sun. They were hot, barren rocks, but one of them sported a series of rings that showed some unusual properties. Only a close-range scan would yield a more detailed analysis, so the captain had decided to put _Voyager_ 's time to good use while the away teams were busy down on the third planet.

"Captain," Kim's voice rang out through the quiet. "The meteoroids are beginning to enter the planet's atmosphere."

"Can you give me a visual?"

"Yes, Captain."

A moment later, the image on the main viewscreen was replaced by an aft view showing the other three planets in this solar system. A large cloud of medium-sized rock fragments was passing in _Voyager_ 's wake and approaching the nearest planet. A few stray rocks were slightly ahead of the main cloud body, causing orange and blue flares to erupt as they burned up in the outer atmospheric layer. Some errant chunks were escaping the cloud, their trajectory having been changed by collisions among the meteoroids.

"There is no danger to the away teams," Tuvok supplied, anticipating Janeway's question. "My analysis suggested that all the fragments will –"

"Captain!" Kim interrupted the Vulcan's report, "I'm getting some very unusual readings. It looks like there's directed movement."

Janeway was on her feet at once. "On the planet?"

"No, within the cloud."

As she spun around to face her operations officer, the captain tried not to speculate on Kim's findings. Directed movement normally indicated the presence of life, but she'd never heard of any beings living in meteoroid clouds. "Are you reading any lifeforms?"

"No, but there's definitely something strange going on. There are a number of elements that don't match the rock composition, but I can't get a clear fix on them." Kim frowned while he furiously worked his board. "Hang on, I'll try to get the area up on screen."

Tense moments passed. Janeway resisted the urge to tap her foot or ask Kim to work faster, since she knew he was doing his best. 

He finally looked up and nodded. "Got it."

The captain turned. The image on the viewscreen now showed several meteoroids up close. Between the chunks of grey and brown rocks, a number of red and orange dots flitted back and forth. Janeway had never seen anything like it. She moved to stand behind the helm and squinted at the screen. "Magnify grid three-seventeen."

The image jumped, zooming in on the fire-colored dots. Someone gasped audibly as winged, humanoid-looking creatures gained shape.

"Repeat scanning for lifeforms," Janeway ordered and then watched, transfixed, as two of the beings tried to haul a third out of the way of an approaching meteoroid fragment. Several others were moving among the rocks, dodging bits of debris and making signs at each other. There could be no doubt that these were members of an intelligent species. From the way they were looking around and pointing, they appeared to be trying to leave the cloud, but chunks of rock and ice kept zooming past them at alarming speeds. Several of the aliens had cracked wings, and one seemed to be missing a leg.

"Scans still don't confirm the presence of lifeforms, but I've managed to get some more details," Kim spoke up. "There are twelve, maybe fifteen of them. Some of these readings are fluctuating, so I can't give you a more exact number. They appear to be trapped within the meteoroid cloud." When he increased the magnification by another factor, grim frowns became visible on chiseled faces that looked as if they had been cut from glass.

"How soon will that part of the cloud reach the first atmospheric layer?" Janeway asked, breaking the hush that had fallen over the bridge.

"Three minutes and fifty-two seconds," came the immediate reply from Tactical. Tuvok had obviously analyzed Kim's data as well and had anticipated Janeway's question.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from the viewscreen and the drama playing out there. "Ensign, by your best guess, would these people survive the heat of atmospheric entry?"

Kim blew out a breath. "Given that they can apparently exist within the vacuum of space, it's hard to say. On the other hand, some of them appear to have been injured by the rocks, and they seem desperate to leave the cloud, so I'd guess that at their current velocity, survival is doubtful."

"Is there a chance that they will make it out of the cloud in time?"

"Unlikely. The debris around them is too dense."

Janeway finally turned to face the bridge crew. "I'd rather err on the side of caution and help them out of their predicament rather than waiting to see if their bodies can withstand the strain of atmospheric entry. Can we beam them aboard?"

Tuvok looked up from the readings he'd been studying. "We can isolate them from the meteoroid cloud based on their physiology and movement patterns. However, we cannot be certain whether they can tolerate _Voyager_ 's atmospheric conditions."

"That's true." Janeway thought for a moment and then addressed Kim again. "Ensign, isn't Cargo Bay One empty at the moment?"

"Almost," he replied after checking the ship's inventory. "We moved half a dozen crates of leola root in there to isolate them from the rest of the supplies when we weren't sure if we had picked up the Gerralian root bugs. All tests came back negative, though."

More's the pity, Janeway thought privately. Aloud she said, "Depressurize the bay and cool it down as much as you can. Don't worry about the effect on our supplies. Oh, and cut the gravity in that section." She had turned while she spoke and once again watched the viewscreen. Several of the meteoroids surrounding the aliens had begun to glow, a sure indicator that this part of the cloud was fast approaching the planet's atmosphere.

Kim announced from behind, "Cargo Bay One is now without atmosphere and gravity. Temperature is currently at four degrees Celsius and dropping."

"We can't wait any longer," Janeway decided. "Beam these people aboard now."

The simultaneous "Aye, Captain," from Ops and Tactical assured her that Tuvok and Kim were working in tandem to complete the transport. She raised her voice again to hail Sickbay and launched into a quick explanation as soon as the EMH responded. "Doctor, we're about to receive visitors in Cargo Bay One. They're undoubtedly alive, even though our scanners don't read them as such yet. They may need medical attention, so I want you to make your way to the bay as quickly as possible. Are you familiar with zero-G protocols?"

"Not yet, but –"

"Then I suggest you acquaint yourself with them quickly. I'll be down shortly. In the meantime, keep me informed of the situation. Janeway out." She hoped the Doctor would be able to help the injured and calm the others. The situation was certainly not the ideal first contact scenario, but the EMH had come a long way since his first activation almost six years earlier. Besides, she intended to head to the cargo bay herself as soon as the situation on the bridge had been resolved.

Meanwhile, the aliens had begun to disappear from the viewscreen. They were transported out in groups of three or four at a time, and the shock of their compatriots' disappearance was clearly visible on the faces of those still trapped in the cloud.

As soon as the last one vanished, Tuvok spoke up. "Captain, all of the aliens are now aboard _Voyager_. Security details have taken up position at both entrances to the cargo bay and will be joined by a team in EVA suits shortly. The Doctor is about to enter the bay."

"Tell him to proceed," Janeway nodded. "I'll –"

"Chakotay to _Voyager_ ," the jovial voice of her first officer unexpectedly broke over the bridge speakers.

The captain had almost forgotten about the away teams on the planet surface. "Go ahead, Commander."

"Captain, we've finished setting up the transport enhancers. Are you back in range yet?"

"We never actually left," she mused, vividly picturing Chakotay's frown as he digested her words. And sure enough...

"Captain?"

"Never mind." Already moving toward the turbolift, she gave Tuvok a nod. "Lieutenant Tuvok will fill you in and then coordinate the transporter tests with you. I have urgent business on Deck Eight. Lieutenant, you have the bridge."

Chakotay and Tuvok's simultaneous acknowledgements were cut off as the lift doors closed and she was whisked away into the bowels of the ship.

-==/\==-

When Janeway stepped off the lift on Deck Eight, she found Seven of Nine waiting for her.

"Captain," the former Borg drone began as she fell into step beside Janeway, "Those aliens we just took aboard…"

Janeway held up her hand. "Let me guess. The Borg encountered this species before."

"Species 5329," Seven confirmed.

"And what can you tell me about them?"

"They're silica-based, capable of existing both within a planet's atmosphere or the vacuum of space. Their home world is located twenty-two point six light years from here."

"That's quite a distance," Janeway observed thoughtfully. "Do you know how they travel? Do they have spaceships?"

"The Borg do not possess that information."

The captain shot the young woman a surprised look. "Why not?"

"Their biology and technology proved to be incompatible with Borg physiology."

"Really? I thought the Borg could adapt to anything." Janeway took care not to let the statement sound sarcastic, even though the temptation was great. Seven might have started to embrace her humanity, but she still had a tendency to show great pride in the Borg's achievements.

"Incompatibility is very uncommon," Seven confirmed, seemingly unperturbed. "To my knowledge, only two species have been designated as such."

Intrigued, Janeway inquired, "Did the Borg perform any research to try and overcome those incompatibilities?"

"No. The cubes in question simply moved on."

"Did they destroy any of these people's towns or installations?"

"No." Seven looked at her as if the thought had never occurred to her – and, by extension, to the Borg as a whole. Apparently she felt compelled to explain. "It would be inefficient and illogical to waste resources on something that is neither an asset nor a threat."

"Of course," Janeway acknowledged, not entirely convinced that the Borg always followed such a charitable notion.

They rounded a last bend in the corridor and arrived at the upper entrance to Cargo Bay One. In contrast to the entry at the lower level, this one had an airlock with windows, so that the inside of the bay could be observed without entering.

Janeway turned to her companion. "Seven, we may need to backtrack along the course of the meteoroid cloud. I'd like you and Ensign Kim to find out whether the cloud passed close to these aliens' home planet and whether they could have traveled all this way inside it. We'll also need a means of scanning for them, preferably so they'll show up as lifeforms in the results. I want to know if there are more of them in this system."

"Understood." Without further ado, Seven pivoted on her heel and departed in the direction of the nearest turbolift.

Janeway nodded to the guards posted on either side of the entrance. "Anything to report, gentlemen?"

"There's been no word since the Doctor went in several minutes ago," Lieutenant Ayala replied.

"Let's hope that's a good sign. Do we have EVA suits handy?"

"The team at the lower entrance is already wearing theirs, just in case. You'll find three more inside the airlock, Captain." He gestured behind him.

"Alright. Then let's see what we've got." Janeway stepped forward, and the other security guard keyed in the door's opening sequence. She nodded to him. "Lock up behind me. If we need assistance, we'll call."

"Yes, Captain." He moved aside to let her pass.

The door hissed shut again as soon as Janeway had entered the airlock. She hardly noticed, her attention having been caught immediately by the image in front of her.

The lid on one of the crates of leola root had apparently not been fastened correctly, so when the gravity in the cargo bay had been cut, the roots had spilled forth and were now floating throughout the cavernous space. Virtually in the middle of the bay, suspended about three meters above the deck, was the Doctor. His posture was perfectly straight, as if he were standing on a solid surface. Grouped in a half-circle around him were five of the aliens, with the rest of the group clustered at their backs and a little further above.

Janeway moved closer to the airlock window to get a better look at _Voyager_ 's guests. They appeared somewhat translucent, in varying shades of orange and red, with large, fragile-looking wings extending from their upper backs. Their humanoid bodies glinted like polished crystal or molten glass, she couldn't quite decide which. But even though their exterior had to be very hard and tough to be able to withstand the vacuum of space, their movements were fluid and bore no resemblance to the awkward motions of humans in EVA suits.

In fact, there was a lot of movement going on. Since a vacuum carried no sounds, these people had obviously developed a highly complex sign language in which the Doctor was actively participating. Not for the first time, Janeway marveled at the hologram's unique abilities. Even though he looked and acted human for the most part, he was actually an extension of the ship's computer and could process new information at a rate far superior to that of a flesh and blood being.

There was one alien whose coloring was noticeably darker than the others – a deep, dark, almost blood red. He seemed to be the leader or spokesperson of the group, for he was gesticulating most energetically, and the Doctor's focus was mainly on him. When one of the others spotted Janeway at the airlock window and pointed her out, everyone except the Doctor turned their faces toward her, and she found herself caught in the stares of more than a dozen pairs of dark rubies. A slight shudder passed down her spine at the coldness of those crystalline eyes. Had she been wrong to take these people aboard?

The Doctor made a quick succession of hand moves to draw everyone's attention back to himself. When he stopped, the loudspeaker above Janeway's head came to life.

"Captain, how nice of you to join us." His connection to the main computer allowed him direct access to the comm system.

"It looks like you have the situation well in hand, Doctor. What can you tell me about our guests?"

"Not a whole lot yet, but I've managed to convey our peaceful intentions. They are in fact very grateful to us for coming to their rescue. It seems they miscalculated the direction of the meteoroid storm and then had trouble leaving it in time."

"That's more or less what we figured. Are they okay with the atmospheric conditions in the cargo bay?"

"Yes, in fact we were just talking about that. I assume you'll want to come in and meet them for yourself?"

"Indeed." Janeway reached for one of the suits that were stored in the airlock. "I'm going to put on an EVA suit now and –"

"That won't be necessary," the Doctor interrupted her. "I've been assured that they can tolerate an oxygen atmosphere and also a certain amount of gravity, so with your permission I'd like to increase both, hopefully to a level which would be tolerable for both the crew and our guests."

"Permission granted," she replied and pushed the suit back into its storage alcove. Then she stepped up close again to the window and watched as the Doctor explained what he was about to do, or so she assumed.

The alien leader made a quick hand gesture which Janeway took as an affirmative. A moment later, all the floating figures started drifting towards the ground as the gravity in the cargo bay increased. The leola root also dropped slowly. The Doctor and the dark red alien kept exchanging short comments, and finally it seemed like the latter was signaling that his people's maximum tolerance had been reached.

The Doctor turned and looked up at Janeway, his voice once again issuing forth from the comm system. "Captain, you should be able to safely enter the bay now. Gravity is currently at ten percent of normal, and the oxygen concentration in the air has been increased to fifteen percent. Oh, and the temperature is currently at minus ten degrees Celsius," he added as an afterthought, sounding slightly worried.

Janeway gritted her teeth, wishing that she'd at least brought a jacket. Standard Starfleet uniforms did not provide sufficient insulation against temperatures below freezing. However, making everyone wait was out of the question now. She'd just have to tough it out for the few minutes she'd be spending in the icy cold environment. "I'll be right down, Doctor." She pushed the button that released the door. Air rushed out through the opening, within moments equalizing pressure and density of the atmosphere within bay and airlock. When she stepped out onto the metal catwalk that overlooked the cargo bay, the frigid air hit her like a wall, but she forced herself to breathe evenly. Even though the air was much thinner than she was used to, the oxygen concentration was almost the same, so she knew she would be fine – unless she froze to death, which seemed a distinct possibility. The Doctor, as ever unperturbed, expectantly watched her progress.

Instead of using the ladder that led down to the lower deck, Janeway simply stepped off the catwalk, pushing off slightly to give herself some forward momentum. It had been a while since her last space walk or anti-grav training, but she managed to land gracefully a few meters away from the Doctor. Her breaths came out in small puffs of mist. The Doctor of course didn't need to breathe, but neither, it seemed, did the aliens; at least none of them had any clouds wafting around them like she did.

"Captain!" the EMH greeted her. "May I introduce..." He made a quick, wavy motion with his left hand. "I'm afraid their names don't translate well into spoken words. In any case, he's the leader of this group of space travelers." He swiveled around to face the dark alien who was about the same height as the hologram himself. Once again gesticulating with his hands, he explained, "I'm going to tell him that you're the captain of this vessel, and the leader of this crew."

Obsidian eyes in a dark red face locked on her, but surprisingly Janeway did not feel the same shiver of dread she had experienced earlier. Instead, these crystalline eyes seemed almost warm, and decidedly curious. Up close, the aliens looked fragile, with delicate, clear-cut features, slim arms and legs and glittering wings that seemed to be made of a fine web of spun glass filaments. Whether it was a natural extension of their bodies or a fabricated improvement, she couldn't tell. But what struck her most was the change in temperature. Space was cold – very, very cold – and apparently the coldness lingered in the aliens' bodies and now bled away into their new surroundings. The sensation was strangely at odds with their molten-glass appearance.

"It is my pleasure to welcome you aboard _Voyager_ as our guests," Janeway began, trying not to show how cold she felt and motioning for the Doctor to 'translate' her words, "I hope you will forgive the lack of amenities, but this was the only space we could adapt quickly enough to suit your needs, such as we perceived them."

The alien leader watched her intently, not looking at the Doctor at all. When she stopped speaking, he opened his mouth, and a stream of strange sounds issued forth.

The Doctor was quicker to react than Janeway. "So they can speak!" he exclaimed, turning to her with childlike enthusiasm. "I'd suspected as much, but I hadn't gotten around to asking while we were still inside a vacuum."

"We'll just have to wait for the universal translator to make sense of their language," Janeway nodded, wrapping her arms around herself to preserve some of her body heat. Within a very short amount of time, individual words became intelligible. Half-sentences followed as the translation matrix successfully analyzed the foreign speech. It appeared that the alien leader was familiar with this kind of technology, for he kept on talking, providing material for _Voyager_ 's computer to work with. Finally, clear sentence structures emerged.

"...and if you hadn't appeared when you did, my people and myself would have perished in the great heat, for the stream of meteoroids held us captive."

"It was our pleasure," Janeway replied when the alien paused at last. "I am happy to see you all well and about. Can you understand what I am saying?"

The glassy face transformed into a wide smile. "Indeed I can. I have encountered similar technology before, but yours seems much quicker and more accurate." He had a wispy, jingling voice, like a summer breeze stirring a set of glass chimes. "My name is Josz, of the Lenzirai celestial travelers. We are most honored to be guests aboard your splendid vessel. What brings you to these parts?"

"Essentially, we're just passing through on our way home." In as few words as possible, Janeway properly introduced herself and explained _Voyager_ 's predicament. While she was talking, she noticed that two of the aliens behind Josz had turned their backs on her and were gesturing animatedly at their companions, as if translating her words. Josz must have noticed her divided focus, for he half turned to see what held her attention.

When she finished by a quick account of how they'd stopped in this system to replenish their supplies, he nodded in understanding. "That is also why we come here, to harvest substances that have become scarce in our home system." He gestured behind him. "Please, do not be alarmed, Captain. Not all of us master the art of tonal speech. It needs a lot of practice, and given our way of life, there is often a lack of opportunity."

"I understand," Janeway assured him. By now, her feet had gone numb from the cold and her ears and nose felt frozen. When she opened her mouth to speak again, she couldn't suppress a slight chattering of her teeth.

"Captain!" the Doctor exclaimed, alarmed. "Are you cold?"

"Just a little," she lied. "If we –"

"Please," Josz interrupted her. "I can see that you are not comfortable, and I need to tend to my people also. Let us continue our conversation at a later time, once we've all warmed up. Your healer will explain."

"But –"

"He's right, Captain," the Doctor interjected as Josz bowed his head and then turned his back on her and lightly bounded over to the other Lenzirai.

She found that she was actually too cold to argue, but even so she wasn't sure whether to be annoyed by Josz's dismissive attitude or pleased by his consideration. She turned brusquely toward the doors and immediately regretted the move when the reduced gravity caused her to spin around further than she'd intended. The Doctor's arm shot out to grasp and steady her, saving her the humiliation of careening through the cargo bay like a spinning top.

His accompanying smirk faded fast when met with her glare, but since she didn't quite trust her frozen limbs, she grudgingly allowed him to lead her to the exit. When they stepped out into the corridor, the sudden gravity shift caused her knees to buckle, and she was once again grateful for his steadying support.

"Josz said you would explain," Janeway stated, flexing her fingers to warm them as they made their way toward the nearest turbolift. "What did he mean?"

The Doctor eagerly shared his newly acquired knowledge. "He was referring to temperature. The Lenzirai can withstand a wide range of temperatures, from icy cold to melting hot. However, they are very vulnerable to sudden fluctuations, which will damage their body structure. The cargo bay is set to warm up slowly, and it should reach comfortable levels for a human in about ninety minutes."

Janeway digested this new piece of information. "That'll certainly make interaction with them easier. Were you able to find out where they were headed?"

"From what I gathered, their destination was the second planet in this system. That's all I can tell you, though."

"We'll find out more once we speak to them again. In the meantime, we have sensors to recalibrate and away teams to pick up." The turbolift doors opened and they stepped in, Janeway calling out the bridge while the Doctor requested Deck Five. When the lift started to move upward, she turned to him. "I also wanted to commend you for the way you handled this first contact situation. It seems to me that you managed to make the Lenzirai feel welcome and comfortable, which is never an easy task when faced with an unfamiliar species."

"They are an agreeable bunch," the Doctor allowed, smiling smugly in reaction to the captain's praise. "I wish to thank you for giving me this opportunity, Captain. The experience will make a good case study for further development of my ECH protocols." The lift opened on Deck Five and he stepped out, caught up in new enthusiasm. "I shall get to work on the new algorithms right away!"

"You do that, Doctor," Janeway replied good-naturedly as the doors closed again and she continued her upward journey through the layers of the ship. When the Doctor had first presented his plans for an Emergency Command Hologram, she had been adverse to the idea. Eventually she had approved of the general concept 'for evaluation purposes', but still remained skeptical as to its actual merits.

For the next two hours, there was a flurry of activity. After successfully completing first their experiments, and then the actual transportation of ores as well as foodstuffs, Chakotay and Neelix’s away teams returned to the ship. Janeway met with them briefly to receive their preliminary reports and to update them on what had occurred during their absence. Afterwards, Neelix bustled off to the mess hall to prepare for the dinner crowd, while the senior officers assembled in the briefing room.

"By now you're all aware of the aliens we took aboard earlier today," Janeway began the meeting, letting her gaze sweep the room to settle on each individual for a few seconds. It always felt good to have all her crew back aboard safe and sound. "They've been made comfortable in Cargo Bay One for the time being, and I'll be heading down there again once we’ve concluded here to discuss with their leader what's going to happen to them. But first, I want us all to share the information obtained so far, so that we're all on the same page. Doctor, you first, please."

"Certainly, Captain." _Voyager_ 's Chief Medical Officer tapped the padd in front of him and a three-dimensional holographic scan of one of the Lenzirai appeared in the air above the table, rotating slowly as he gave his report. "They call themselves the Lenzirai, and their physiology is quite resilient, as most of you were able to observe for yourselves. Only gravity poses a problem for their extremely heavy and dense bodies. I did some research in the Federation database, and it appears that the Lenzirai share some characteristics with the Tholians, who also possess crystalline body parts." There was some nervous shifting around the table. Tholians were generally known to be an extremely xenophobic species that had attacked Federation ships on several occasions. "However," the Doctor quickly continued, "contrary to the Tholians, the Lenzirai appear perfectly benevolent. By the way, Captain, before coming here I took the liberty of going down to the cargo bay to check on them again, and to inquire if there was anything they required in the way of food or sleeping accommodations. They only asked for the gravity to be cut again and for the lights to be changed to an ultraviolet spectrum but otherwise claimed they were fine. Apparently their bodies absorb shortwave light both for healing and nutritional purposes." He sat back, his part of the report finished.

Janeway remembered the cracked wings and fractured limbs she had seen on the viewscreen earlier and silently berated herself for having forgotten about those details. She really should have asked the Lenzirai leader about the needs of his people, but she'd been so cold that it had completely slipped her mind. She nodded in approval. "Thank you, Doctor, that was very thoughtful." Her eyes moved down the line of seated officers. "Mr. Kim?"

Kim sat up straighter and shared a quick look with Seven of Nine before outlining the results of their sensor analysis. "Thanks to Seven, we know that the Lenzirai homeworld is located approximately twenty light years from here. It's actually not too far off our projected course. We extrapolated the path of the meteoroid cloud and found that there is a cosmic stream connecting that area of space with the star system we're currently in. Apparently they've been using that stream to get from one place to the other."

"But how will they get back?" Paris interjected, ever the pilot.

"The stream is circular," Kim explained, bringing up a holographic simulation to illustrate his words. "It varies slightly in dimension and velocity in some places, but appears quite stable for the most part."

Janeway stared at the simulation, trying to fathom traveling in a cosmic stream without the protection of a starship. She'd once heard about an equally astonishing means of journeying employed by the ancient Bajorans – a solar powered light-ship – but that was hardly comparable. From all appearances, the Lenzirai didn't even wear clothing or other protective gear. Their evolution had clearly happened quite differently from that of other humanoid species. "Have you found a means of scanning for them, so we can determine if there are more of them around?"

"Yes, Captain." Kim grew visibly excited. "Based on the transporter protocols as well as scans taken by the Doctor –"

"With the Lenzirais' permission, of course," the EMH interjected.

She nodded and motioned Kim to continue.

"Based on that data, we were able to recalibrate our scanners to isolate Lenzirai biosignatures in this star system. The results were quite astonishing." He tapped his padd to call up new data, and the holographic image shifted. Three planets appeared, slowly rotating around their sun. 

"This is the third planet, the one we're currently orbiting," Kim explained, pointing to the largest world. He tapped his padd again, and dull reddish spots blinked into existence in various places. "It shows only very faint Lenzirai readings, and we suspect that these are the remains of unfortunate travelers who also got caught in a divergent stream or meteoroid cloud, causing them to burn up in the planet's atmosphere."

"Which is what would have happened to the group we rescued today, if we had not been present," Seven supplied in her usual matter-of-fact voice.

Janeway swallowed hard and noticed that others around the table also looked slightly shaken. She nodded at Kim to continue.

"The first planet is unremarkable and shows no sign of Lenzirai presence." The ensign pointed at the world closest to the sun. "But it's the second planet which really caught our attention. We detected some anomalous readings before; now we know why." Another tap of his padd, and the rings surrounding the second planet suddenly glowed bright crimson. On the planet’s surface, further clusters of lighter red dots were visible within one particular area.

The captain leaned forward, her curiosity piqued. "What exactly are we seeing here?"

"Based upon the available data, we believe that this area houses a Lenzirai colony, comprising about eighty to a hundred individuals." Kim pointed at the surface clusters.

"That would explain why they were trying to reach that place," the Doctor mentioned, and Janeway concurred.

"What about the rings though?" she asked next. "Are you telling me that there are thousands more of them, living among chunks of ice and dust?"

"Actually, we're not sure," Kim admitted. "The readings are very similar, but there are some notable differences. It's almost as if there are two different groups or tribes of Lenzirai, one on the surface and one in orbit. However, even though we detected a lot more biosignatures in the rings, their individual size is also much smaller than that of the other group. Frankly, we can't make sense of it yet."

"Keep at it, and I'll also take this question to Josz the next time I speak with him. Maybe he'll be willing to share some information which will explain the phenomenon." Janeway's gaze once again swept the room. "Anything else?"

No one spoke up, so she concluded the meeting. When the officers filed out of the room, she turned to Chakotay. "Commander, I'd like you to join me for another visit to the cargo bay."

-==/\==-

When Janeway and Chakotay entered Cargo Bay One ten minutes later, they were both wearing magnetic boots to allow them to stay on the deck despite the lack of gravity. Most of the Lenzirai appeared to be sleeping, their wings wrapped closely about their bodies as they floated around the room. The lights were now a soft blue color, only just dipping into the visual end of the ultraviolet spectrum. The temperature had reached a comfortable level which Janeway estimated at about twenty degrees Celsius.

The command team's gravity boots made dull, clunking sounds as they advanced into the bay. As soon as he became aware of their presence, Josz floated down to meet them at eye level, his gossamer wings batting gently to keep him in place.

After introducing her second-in-command, Janeway got straight down to business. "We detected evidence of a significant Lenzirai presence on the second planet in this system, and especially the surrounding planetary rings," she stated, carefully watching the dark red alien. "But somehow the readings seemed... fragmented."

Josz smiled. "You found the shardlings," he said softly.

Puzzled, Janeway looked over at Chakotay and found that he looked as clueless as she felt. "Shardlings?" the first officer echoed.

"They are our young." He smiled again at the humans' confusion. "Lenzirai are not born or hatched like most species I presume you know. Instead, we are grown from a certain type of crystal shard. It takes many solar cycles for us to mature, but eventually we gain the form you see before you. Except for the wings," he added as an afterthought. "Those are only granted to celestial travelers like myself."

That's that question answered, Janeway thought to herself. However, many others were only just coming up. "A member of my crew claimed that her..." She hesitated over what to call the Borg. Seven's former family? Her tribe? Her species? None of that fit quite right, and yet she wanted to avoid further explanations for the time being. "That former crewmembers of hers encountered the Lenzirai several years ago," she finally said, sticking as close to the truth as possible. "They identified a planet about twenty light years from here as your homeworld. Were they mistaken?"

"No," Josz replied, and his jingling voice took on a darker timbre. "They were quite right. The world you speak of is our home planet, and the place of my origin."

Somehow, Janeway sensed that those simple words hid a wealth of tragedy. "What happened?" she asked softly, hoping that she wasn't overstepping her bounds.

Josz regarded her sadly, his eyes now dull and lifeless. "It may be difficult for you to understand," he said. "I'm not sure if I can explain it in such terms as will be familiar to you."

"We understand if telling the story is painful to you," Chakotay said before Janeway could, "but we're explorers, always seeking out new life and new civilizations. Your customs and experiences must be so vastly different from ours, we would be honored if you would care to explain some of your species' ways and origins."

"I shall try," Josz replied after a moment. He folded his hands in a surprisingly human gesture and rested his elbows on his knees, effectively sitting down in mid-air. "Until two hundred solar circles ago, my people happily thrived on our world. Every cycle, a handful of us were chosen to become celestial travelers and to explore far-off worlds. To be chosen was a great honor, and the travelers always returned with wondrous stories of planets far different from our own, and of other species they had observed there. However, they rarely made contact with other intelligent beings, as past experience had shown that most were unable to grasp the nature of our existence and believed us to be artificially designed soldiers, sent out to conquer them. We had learned the hard way that keeping to ourselves was safer, yet we continued to explore."

Janeway nodded thoughtfully, thinking back to the sentient robots _Voyager_ had encountered in the course of their journey. Given the Lenzirai's appearance, it was easy to classify them as artificial beings, and to perceive them as a threat.

"One day, one of the travelers brought back a plague from a distant world. By the time we noticed its effects, it was too late. The illness decimated our population and brought us to the brink of extinction."

"What were the effects?" Chakotay asked. "And do you think the plague was spread intentionally?"

"No, no," the Lenzirai responded immediately. "In fact, we are quite certain that it was a naturally occurring side effect of a certain type of rock that the traveler brought back from a newly discovered, yet uninhabited world. Unfortunately, its effect on our people was devastating. All the shardlings who hadn't matured past a certain stage withered and crumbled. And as if that wasn't enough, half a cycle after the first symptoms of the plague manifested themselves, the elders noticed that their bodies started splintering prematurely. None of the traditional healing practices helped. Little more than a full cycle after the first outbreak, only those within a certain maturation stage were left, barely twenty percent of the original population. They had been the only ones strong enough for their bodies to fight the illness and develop a resistance."

"That's terrible," Janeway whispered, Chakotay nodding mutely at her side.

"It was a very difficult time," Josz acknowledged. "I was still a youngster then, only having been granted my wings ten cycles previously. I'd been on a few forays into neighboring systems with older travelers who were showing me how to best catch the solar winds and other such secrets. It was a glorious time." He smiled, caught up in happy memories for a moment. Then his expression sobered. "After the plague, all of the more experienced travelers were gone, and those of us left faced suspicion and ostracism. It had been a traveler who'd brought the plague to our world, and many argued that we couldn't risk the same thing happening again. But then there were those who said that the travelers were the only ones who could prevent the Lenzirai from becoming extinct."

"How so?" Chakotay asked.

"There was an old story, barely more than a myth. It claimed that there was a planet, far away from our own, where shardlings lay in waiting for the day when they would be called upon to save our world. I never believed it was true – until one day shortly before the outbreak of the plague, when another traveler told me he'd found the forgotten shardling nursery. He described his journey, the currents which took him farther away from our home than he'd ever been before. At the time, I thought he was only boasting, but once our world threatened to fall apart, I realized that I had to take the chance. It took me almost fifty cycles, but I eventually found the place and then brought other travelers with me. We established a nurturing base on the planet, and about a hundred travelers continually care for the shardlings that are taken there for maturation. Only once they've reached a certain stage can they be transplanted to our homeworld to complete their maturation, at which point they will also have gained immunity to the plague. If we take them while they're still immature, they'll whither and crumble just like our original shardlings did. The group I'm commanding is the first group of 'new' Lenzirai who originated in this system and now returns after gaining their wings."

Startled, Janeway looked up. "Does that explain the physiological differences between you? The eyes? The body shades?"

"It does," Josz confirmed. "My coloring designates me as one of the ancients now. Once I and my cohorts start to splinter, the Lenzirai will have become a ruby-eyed species. Maybe they will change their name then." At Chakotay's questioning glance, he pointed to his own obsidian eyes. "The elders used to say that our eyes reflected the depth of space. Lenzi-Raia means 'dark mirror'. Hardly an appropriate designation for our new generation." His voice took on a resigned and slightly bitter note.

Before either of the Starfleet officers could react, Chakotay's communicator chirped. "Seven of Nine to Commander Chakotay."

Chakotay shook his head as if waking from a trance. "Chakotay here. What is it, Seven?"

"Commander, I require your immediate assistance on a matter of personal importance."

Janeway smirked. Chakotay grimaced. "Can it wait?"

"No," the former Borg drone replied flatly.

"I'll –"

"The Commander will be right with you, Seven," Janeway cut in.

"Thank you, Captain. Seven out."

She could see that her first officer was upset, so Janeway excused them to Josz and moved off to the side to talk to Chakotay private.

"What did you do that for?" Chakotay protested as soon as they were out of hearing range.

"Remember how we agreed that she needed someone other than the Doctor to teach her some interpersonal skills?" Janeway was still smiling. "Now is as good a time as any to start."

"That's not quite how I envisioned it," Chakotay grumbled.

Janeway patted him on the arm. "I'll take over next week."

Still grumbling under his breath, her first officer nodded to Josz and then briefly looked over at Janeway again. "I'll see you on the bridge tomorrow."

"Have a good night, Commander," Janeway replied absently, still thinking about all the things Josz had revealed about his people and their dire fate. When the doors closed behind Chakotay, she returned her attention to the Lenzirai. "What are your plans now? Where can we take you?"

He lifted his face to regard his sleeping companions who were floating above them. "After they have rested, these youngsters will join the nurturing base to begin caring for the next group of shardlings."

"That can easily be arranged," the captain assured him. "What about yourself?"

"I will need to return to my home world, to prepare the next group of travelers for their tasks."

Kathryn suddenly realized that she would be very sorry to see him leave. She'd met many different species over the course of her career, but somehow the Lenzirai fascinated her in a way she'd rarely experienced. Especially one particular Lenzirai. She thought for a moment, remembering a comment Harry Kim had made at the staff meeting. "My ship will be headed in the direction of your homeworld, passing by quite closely. I'd be happy to offer you safe passage." 

He looked down at her again, his features more animated than she seen them so far. "That would be a most gracious offer. I have always been very interested in other cultures, and would welcome the chance to learn more about yours over the course of the journey. Are you certain that my needs would not put a strain on your vessel?"

"Not at all," she assured him, looking around at the rather drab surroundings. A sudden idea struck her. "In fact, there is a space that would be far more accommodating, and which would give you ample opportunity to study different aspects of Federation worlds and civilizations." She was thinking of the holodeck with its many functions and programs. It would be the ideal spot to show him her own origins, and maybe learn more about his.

"Then I gratefully accept." He inclined his head, and his glittering smile made her stomach flutter.

"I shall leave you to rest now," she said and slowly started to move backwards, feeling extraordinarily clumsy in her heavy magnetic boots.

"I hope you will do the same," he replied, elegantly batting his wings in a sort of wave before joining the other Lenzirai.

Just before she stepped out into the corridor, Janeway threw a look back over her shoulder and saw that Josz had also wrapped himself in his wings in preparation for sleep. His eyes were still intently watching her though, and she gave him another tentative smile before turning and leaving the bay.

-==/\==-

Several hours later, _Voyager_ entered orbit around the second planet and the group of Lenzirai travelers was beamed to the surface. Shortly afterwards, and much sooner than Janeway had expected, Josz returned, flying up to _Voyager_ under his own steam and severely startling her when she looked up from reading a report at her desk to find him smiling and waving at her through the ready room window. She gave the order to beam him straight to Holodeck One and, after confirming that he had safely arrived, instructed Tom Paris to set course for the Lenzirai homeworld. The helmsman replied with an estimated travel time of one week.

For the next couple of days, life aboard _Voyager_ settled back into its familiar routine. Janeway made a point of visiting Josz at least twice a day, and also encouraged the rest of the senior staff to keep him company for an hour or two. She had given him free reign of _Voyager_ 's holographic landscape database, and every time she entered the holodeck, she was happy to be greeted by a different vista from around the Federation. They had animated conversations about places they'd visited, comparing worlds and civilizations, and she found that he had a profound knowledge of Delta Quadrant life, even having heard about the Kazon and the Borg, though he had yet to meet either. He was quite curious to hear about Earth and about her childhood, a concept which seemed as alien to him as his life in a vacuum was to her. He even taught her some of the hand signals the Lenzirai used to communicate, and they laughed together at her 'misspellings' of the more complicated motions.

Another thing that fascinated him was her hair. Even though his wings were constructed from fine glass threads that seemed just as thin as human hair, the way it floated about her head seemed to mesmerize him. In turn, Janeway's desire to touch his glossy, shimmering body grew every day.

She took to leaving her boots outside the doors, for stepping into weightlessness felt much more natural if she could freely flex her feet and spread her toes. Her zero-G lessons gradually came back to her, and although she could never hope to achieve Josz's graceful, fluid loops and turns, she enjoyed gliding alongside him and showing him specific details within the programs he had selected.

The day before _Voyager_ was scheduled to reach the Lenzirai homeworld, Janeway arrived on the holodeck to find Josz hovering cross-legged above the narrow, flat top of Mount Ta'akla, the highest mountain on Vulcan. His wings were folded back, tucked in close to his body. Scorched orange plains stretched out in every direction as far as the eye could see, but the sun was already low in the sky, so the temperature had dropped to a bearable level.

Janeway carefully maneuvered herself in front of Josz, awkwardly adopting a position similar to his. Behind his back the sun was beginning to set, turning a fiery orange color which complimented her foreign visitor and made him appear an even darker shade of red. Not for the first time, she wondered how his skin – if it could be called that – would feel like under her fingertips. Would it be smooth yet hard like glass, or more pliant like a gel pack? Forcibly restraining her inappropriate desires, she said, "I have a question, and I hope that you won't take it as an affront to your people's history."

The dark alien eyes fixed her with glittering intensity. "Feel free to ask about anything you are curious about. I've always believed in openness and honesty with those who care to engage with us as equals."

She decided not to dwell on the implications of that statement and instead thought about how to best formulate her question. "The journey from your world to the shardlings' nursery is long and dangerous, is it not?"

"It is," he confirmed. "Sadly, every cycle some travelers do not return from the trip. If your ship hadn't rescued us, we would have numbered among them."

"Then why don't you move closer? Both the second and the third planet in that system would easily support your populace, I presume. And after what happened on your homeworld, maybe starting fresh somewhere new would be felt as a blessing by those who survived the plague."

He stared at her long and hard, but she didn't flinch and returned his scrutiny just as openly, finding that she could actually see herself reflected in his glittering eyes. Upon closer inspection, the dark crystals were dotted with tiny flecks of silver, which indeed made them appear like portals to the stars. Janeway wondered what he might be seeing in her own blue eyes – a reflection of the sky, or maybe the reminder of an ocean on a distant world? Somewhere deep down inside, she acknowledged that the thought of finding out exited her.

"The idea has been discussed, and rejected, numerous times," Josz finally said. "There are those who speak like you, and who also believe that the new shardlings have a right to their own history, their own home close to their place of origin."

"And the others?"

"Why are you undertaking a journey that likely won't be concluded before your own lifetime approaches its end?"

Surprised, Janeway looked up. "What do you mean?"

"You yourself told me about your predicament and your journey. It appears to me that the most rational course of action would have been to find a planet to settle down, either an uninhabited world for yourselves, or somewhere with a welcoming species that would take your people into their fold. Yet instead, you chose to take the far more dangerous road in trying to reach a destination so distant that you may not live to see it again."

His words were spoken evenly, without reproach, and Janeway felt her heart clench. She had asked herself the same question many times over and often wondered whether her she was letting sentimentality get in the way of logical reasoning. Still, he deserved an honest answer.

"Because it's home," she whispered, feeling tears pricking at the back of her eyes.

Josz nodded solemnly, his crystalline eyes lifting to the dark Vulcan sky. "Exactly."

As the realization of what he was saying hit her, she felt a single tear slip past her barriers and settle in the corner of her eye. Josz hesitated, then lifted one hand and made to wipe the tear away, but hesitated again before actually touching her. Before she knew what she was doing, Janeway had tilted her head, turning her cheek into his palm.

His hand felt surprisingly warm, like a sun-warmed rock on a summer beach. The texture of his skin was indeed smooth as glass, but also just pliant enough to feel like a living creature instead of an artificially created being. Janeway wasn't sure whether it was just his alien nature which excited her, but right now she didn't care to stop and analyze her emotions.

She'd had her share of dalliances with aliens of varying 'configurations', and usually it was just a matter of finding out which appendages conformed to certain functions. This, however, was different. The Lenzirai were an asexual species that grew its young from crystal shards. Despite the fact that Josz had initiated the caressing touch which now connected them, she seriously doubted that he had any idea of what was going through her head right now.

"It has been a long time since I touched any flesh and blood being," he said softly, throwing her thoughts into new turmoil. "I hope I am not committing any transgression by doing so."

"Not as long as I don't ask you to stop," she replied just as softly, feeling her own skin heat up in response to the possible implications of his words. His fingers slid into her hair, pulling out the band she'd used to secure it today, and gently combing through the soft strands before traveling down the side of her neck and lingering on her collarbone, outlining its shape through the fabric of her uniform.

Throwing caution to the wind, Janeway unzipped her jacket, slipped it off and tossed it behind her. It sailed through the air for several dozen meters before its momentum slowed. A sound like tiny bells ringing escaped from Josz's mouth and she frowned, but then realized that he was laughing. "What?" she asked.

"As I said, it has been a long time," he repeated, his hand returning to the exploration of her collarbone. "I had forgotten that beings like you can shed layers without sustaining any harm."

Now it was her turn to laugh. "To tell you the truth, it hadn't even occurred to me that you might find that strange."

"Not strange," he corrected, now stroking over her shoulder and down her arm until his hand covered hers, a smooth warm weight slipping into her palm. "Interesting. Captivating."

Her breath caught at the timbre in his voice. Apparently she had underestimated his knowledge of flesh and blood physiology. Maneuvering closer, she laid her free hand on his knee and carefully watched his reaction.

His eyes dropped to regard her hand, then came back up to search her face. Even though he had no pupils, she thought she detected curiosity and excitement in his gaze.

"There were two planets I visited frequently with the elder traveler who instructed me, before the plague," Josz told her in his breathy, wind-chime voice. "Both were occupied by flesh and blood species who were friendly to us and allowed us to explore their world and their customs. One was an ocean world, with water-dwelling life that was more alien to me than anything I'd ever seen before. The other was a planet much like our own, but with people living in artificial structures, some alone, some in groups."

"That's the preferred way of life on Earth as well," Janeway supplied.

Josz nodded. "So you've showed me. Over time, I became friends with several of these people who were as curious about me as I was about them. Then one day one of them invited me into his home. It was the first time I ever got to touch a being that had not been grown from a shardling. I... learned a lot on that day."

"Curiosity is usually a good thing." She moved closer yet, until her leg touched his.

His body suddenly uncurled and he pushed off from the mountain top. Since his hand still held hers, gently but firmly, she was drawn along with him up toward the rapidly darkening sky. Gasping in surprise, she gripped his forearm with her free hand.

"Don't be alarmed," he told her, shifting his grasp to reach around her waist so he could keep her at his side. "I just want you to fly with me, to soar like we do on my world."

She heard a flapping sound behind her and turned her head in time to see his wings unfold, shimmering silver in the light of the ascending moon. With a few powerful moves he brought her even higher into the air, until the ground beneath them was just a blur of dark shapes. He sent them both into a slight spin, forcing her to hold onto him to avoid spiraling away uncontrolled, but then leveled their flight and stretched out in midair, keeping her floating beside him.

"This is how I prefer to sleep when I'm home," he told her, eyes flashing with the light of a thousand stars above. "Suspended between space and ground, a part of both yet tied to neither. To me, this is a place of perfect balance."

"It is very peaceful," Janeway agreed, turning cautiously to face him while still gripping his arm. Intellectually, she knew she wouldn't fall – even if gravity was suddenly restored to the holodeck, the safety protocols would protect her. Still, she felt vertigo encroaching on her senses.

"Close your eyes," Josz instructed, and she reluctantly complied.

When his hands suddenly left her, she almost cried out in fear but bit down on her lip at the last moment. Her hands had balled into fists and she forced herself to relax her muscles and concentrate on the sensation of floating along weightlessly, with no real sense of up or down. Then he touched her again and she sighed with relief, appreciating the anchoring sensation.

"Relax, and keep your eyes closed," he whispered.

Anxiety and anticipation warred for dominance. She'd never given up control lightly, and here she was literally placing her whole being in his hands. But somehow she knew she could trust him, and that was the last rational thought she had for quite some time as he started his slow discovery of her body. 

His touch was both hard and soft, gently probing but never painful. In no time at all he managed to divest her of her shirt and pants, only fumbling slightly with the unfamiliar fastenings. Cool air hit her skin and she felt goose bumps rising, only to be smoothed down by warm hands moments later. She tried to turn into his touch and once again heard the flapping of his wings as he moved about her, learning the contours of her body with every hard, jutting bone, and every soft, yielding plane he explored.

She heard the jingling laugh again when he discovered that there was yet another layer she could shed, and then she gasped when his fingers slid into the warm and secret places now exposed to his questing touches. He was quick to learn what pleased her, and before long she was squirming against him, panting heavily and wishing that she had a solid base to push off from to further increase her pleasures. However, being weightless meant that the harder she tried to push, the more she propelled herself away from him, and there were several times when he lost touch with her altogether, causing her to groan in frustration. The problem was finally solved when she felt his wings gently wrap around them both, and she reveled in the sensation of having his glassy, warm skin press against the length of her nude body.

"I don't know what exactly your friend taught you," she began, moaning as his hand unerringly pressed against her center. "But I can't take much more of this,"

Josz's movements abruptly stilled. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked, worry evident in his bell-like voice.

She shook her head. "Quite the contrary." Her hand moved to guide his and he quickly understood. Heat pooled in her belly and her pulse quickened again, blood rushing in her ears. Her arm slipped across his chest as her body arched backwards, and then her eyes flew open when the coiled spring within her suddenly released with mind-shattering intensity. Bathed in the light of a thousand stars, reflected on the shiny surface of her alien lover's body, Kathryn Janeway's only thought was that the expression 'floating on cloud nine' would forever hold a new, special meaning for her.

Once her tremors eased, she drew a shuddering breath and then twisted around to face Josz, who was floating by her side, his wings flapping lazily. "You had a very talented teacher," she breathed, moistening her lips with the tip of her tongue. "But it seems there's one thing he didn't know about."

"What's that?" the Lenzirai asked curiously.

"Kissing," Janeway stated. At his blank expression, she reached out to grasp his shoulders and pulled herself close. Anchoring herself with one arm around his neck, she laid the palm of her free hand against his face and ran her thumb over his dark ruby mouth. Then she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

It was like kissing a glass statue, except for the fact that Josz's hands were moving against her back, smoothly sliding up and down. She nibbled on his lower lip and then kissed her way across his cheek to the side of his face. Placing one last, open-mouthed kiss on his temple, she finally drew back.

"That felt nice," he said, smiling at her expectant expression.

Janeway laughed. "I'm not sure if 'nice' is what I was aiming for, but I'll take it as a compliment."

Something moved at the edge of her field of vision and she turned her head to get a closer look. It was her turtleneck shirt, floating several meters above and to the right of her. A little further beyond was another scrap of fabric which looked suspiciously like her panties. "I should get dressed," she said, blushing slightly.

"Perhaps," he nodded, laughing his bell-like laugh again.

He helped her retrieve her clothing, darting around gracefully to pick up the different pieces. Once she was fully dressed, he took her hand and guided her back down to the surface. His wings curled in on themselves and flattened against his back as he hovered in front of her while she called for the arch and then held onto the edge of the doorframe to steady herself.

Josz reached out to run his hand through her hair again, smiling at the way it floated weightlessly around her head. "Thank you for a set of extraordinary memories which I will treasure always," he whispered.

She cupped his face in her palm again, one last time feeling his exceptionally smooth, warm skin. "Me too." She'd never felt as free as she had during the last hour, and she knew that she would forever remember the experience.

Then she triggered the door and moved out into the corridor, returning to the realm of gravity, of rationality and duty, and suddenly the weight of her own body seemed to triple, pulling her down in more ways than merely the physical. She sank to the deck to pull on her boots, and looked up to see Josz watching her through the still open doors, his expression grave.

"Remember to fly every now and then," he told her and then soared up into the air and out of her sight.

Janeway slowly picked herself up and returned to her quarters, where she soon fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

-==/\==-

The next day, _Voyager_ arrived at the Lenzirai homeworld. Janeway had been looking forward to seeing the planet for herself, but when Kim reported that the atmosphere would be toxic to humans, she felt strangely relieved.

Several Lenzirai travelers were flying around in orbit of their planet, stretching their wings and riding the solar currents. When _Voyager_ took up a low, stationary orbit above the planet's north pole, they curiously approached and looked in through the starship's windows, pointing and gesturing at one another and at the Starfleet officers staring back at them.

By his own request, Josz was beamed straight into the midst of his people, and the unsuspecting aliens scattered in shock and surprise. However, as soon as they recognized him as one of their own, they approached again, and on their viewscreen the bridge crew watched in fascination as they clustered around him while he rapidly explained the circumstances in sweeping hand gestures. Finally, they all turned to face the ship, and Josz approached the ready room window where Janeway stood alone, removed from the rest of her crew by bulkheads and the crushing weight of responsibility.

Tears blurred her eyes as she regarded his chiseled features, and it took her a moment to decipher the hand signal he was making. Fly, he was saying, batting his wings and smiling at her one last time before turning and joining the other travelers to return home.

I will, she vowed, watching the group until they were nothing more than tiny flecks of red against the backdrop of an earthen-colored world. Then she straightened her shoulders, pushed back her hair and walked out onto the bridge to give the order to resume a course for home.

-==/ The End. \==-


End file.
